When the hospital got the lab results from my throat swab, they wanted me to come in. That was not what I wanted to hear. Ideally, they would have told me to eat plenty of donuts and take a nap a day and the cough would go away. That almost never happens.
Instead, they wanted me to stop taking the flu pills and cough syrup. I paid $5 for those drugs, and now I'm just supposed to throw them away. Worse, they wanted me to buy another $5 worth of drugs. The new drugs are more specific.
“You have the avian influenza,” the doctor told me.
Bird flu. I caught bird flu. How that happened is anyone's guess. Apparently, people get it every year. It is not on the news anymore because hundreds of people are not dying from it, fortunately. My prognosis is very favorable. The new pills are supposed to wipe it out. After the last few pandemics that killed hundreds of people, the doctors around here came up with better ways of treating it.
Before I came to Hong Kong, several people warned me that I would get some exotic disease. This was several years after SARS and right after the big swine flu outbreak. It's funny because Hong Kong is no more contagious than any other large city. No one covers their mouths when they cough or sneeze, so colds spread faster than online rumors, but this is not the kind of place where people catch malaria or hepatitis. Hong Kong is fairly far from the nearest jungle.
But I'm pretty sure I would have never caught bird flu in Minnesota.
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Kung Flu
After about a week of coughing, sneezing, huffing and puffing, I went to the hospital.
Where I come from, we don't go to the hospital just because we have a cold. That's how you go bankrupt. Around here, people go to the hospital for every little thing. An ER visit in the United States can eat up both your day and bank account. In Hong Kong, you can be in and out of the ER in about an hour, $5 poorer.
Going to the hospital for a cold still seems strange to me, but I could not stop coughing, so I whipped out a few dollars and spent ten minutes on the MTR.
This is cold and flu season, so I had to wait another ten minutes before I could see a nurse who did all the little preliminary things that nurses do before you can see a doctor. The hospital was busy, so it was a whopping five minutes before the doctor came around. After pressing his ice cold stethoscope against my coughing chest, he wanted to look at some x-rays. That was another five minutes down the drain.
After looking at the chest x-ray, the doctor wanted to swab my throat. As a woman, I should be used to men wanting to put tiny tubes inside me, but I have never been a fan of having my throat swabbed. Fortunately, it rarely comes up. The swab would have to go to the lab, wherever that is, but in the meantime, they gave me some pills that supposedly keep my head from catching on fire, and some of that sweet opium liquid for the cough.
About three hours after leaving my apartment for the hospital, I was back home. I could have been back in a little over an hour, but I had to do some grocery shopping. I may be coughing enough to fill the Hindenburg, but laundry soap does not just magically appear.
Where I come from, we don't go to the hospital just because we have a cold. That's how you go bankrupt. Around here, people go to the hospital for every little thing. An ER visit in the United States can eat up both your day and bank account. In Hong Kong, you can be in and out of the ER in about an hour, $5 poorer.
Going to the hospital for a cold still seems strange to me, but I could not stop coughing, so I whipped out a few dollars and spent ten minutes on the MTR.
This is cold and flu season, so I had to wait another ten minutes before I could see a nurse who did all the little preliminary things that nurses do before you can see a doctor. The hospital was busy, so it was a whopping five minutes before the doctor came around. After pressing his ice cold stethoscope against my coughing chest, he wanted to look at some x-rays. That was another five minutes down the drain.
After looking at the chest x-ray, the doctor wanted to swab my throat. As a woman, I should be used to men wanting to put tiny tubes inside me, but I have never been a fan of having my throat swabbed. Fortunately, it rarely comes up. The swab would have to go to the lab, wherever that is, but in the meantime, they gave me some pills that supposedly keep my head from catching on fire, and some of that sweet opium liquid for the cough.
About three hours after leaving my apartment for the hospital, I was back home. I could have been back in a little over an hour, but I had to do some grocery shopping. I may be coughing enough to fill the Hindenburg, but laundry soap does not just magically appear.
Friday, December 25, 2015
Christmas 2015
Christmas Medley
Judy Garland, Mel Tormé, Jack Jones, Liza Minnelli, Tracy Everitt, Lorna Luft, Joey Luft
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
I'd Like to Thank the Academy
I consider myself a dancer more than anything else. I have spent far more time on training and practicing dance than anything else. But it turns out I'm a pretty good actor.
Cold and flu season jumped out from behind a corner and hit me square in the face this year. One day, I was fit as a fiddle and ready for whatever life brought. The next day, I was coughing up a lung and plugging my nose up with a cork. I never saw it sneaking up on me. It was an ambush.
I don't know anyone whose job gets excited when they take sick days off, but my job practically requires it when we are contagious. We are always supposed to project an image of happy sunshine and rainbows. Coughing and sneezing all over the place is not the Disney way. For ten months of the year, they would rather have less productivity than tarnish that image.
But this is the big holiday season, and the worst time of the year to take any days off. This is easily our busiest season. Taking a vacation in December/January is rare, but it can be done with enough advance planning. Calling in sick with no notice is not good for anybody around here. It puts an unnecessary strain on the people you have to work with when you come back.
So I went to work feeling like a dog on the wrong end of a car wash. This is where my great acting skills came into play. We were doing a show that everyone had already rehearsed a million times. That was the easy part. But I put on my happy face and acted like I was not sick. I had no idea how successful I would be, but about halfway through one of my least favorite songs, I had a sudden urge to relieve myself. This is not uncommon in my profession. There are all kinds of tricks of the trade, but all of my energy was focused on acting like I was not the least energetic person in the room.
So I did something that Katharine Hepburn taught me. She did not personally teach me anything. She and I were probably never in the same city at the same time. In an interview, she described shooting a scene in one of her Spencer Tracy movies. He was agitated and needed a drink and she needed to use the bathroom. They had already shot a million takes and everyone was ready to go home. She said that she used the intensity of a full bladder to deliver her lines twice as fast as before, which prompted Tracy's surprised reaction. Everyone liked it, and they could move on.
My situation was a little different, but by focusing on my bladder, my sneezing and waterfall nose subsided until they knew they could have my full attention. The second I could get off stage safely, I went to the nearest restroom. You know that scene in The Green Mile after Michael Clarke Duncan gives Tom Hanks a prostate exam and Hanks can finally let loose? The look on Tom's face is exactly how I felt.
Then I went back to coughing and sneezing.
Cold and flu season jumped out from behind a corner and hit me square in the face this year. One day, I was fit as a fiddle and ready for whatever life brought. The next day, I was coughing up a lung and plugging my nose up with a cork. I never saw it sneaking up on me. It was an ambush.
I don't know anyone whose job gets excited when they take sick days off, but my job practically requires it when we are contagious. We are always supposed to project an image of happy sunshine and rainbows. Coughing and sneezing all over the place is not the Disney way. For ten months of the year, they would rather have less productivity than tarnish that image.
But this is the big holiday season, and the worst time of the year to take any days off. This is easily our busiest season. Taking a vacation in December/January is rare, but it can be done with enough advance planning. Calling in sick with no notice is not good for anybody around here. It puts an unnecessary strain on the people you have to work with when you come back.
So I went to work feeling like a dog on the wrong end of a car wash. This is where my great acting skills came into play. We were doing a show that everyone had already rehearsed a million times. That was the easy part. But I put on my happy face and acted like I was not sick. I had no idea how successful I would be, but about halfway through one of my least favorite songs, I had a sudden urge to relieve myself. This is not uncommon in my profession. There are all kinds of tricks of the trade, but all of my energy was focused on acting like I was not the least energetic person in the room.
So I did something that Katharine Hepburn taught me. She did not personally teach me anything. She and I were probably never in the same city at the same time. In an interview, she described shooting a scene in one of her Spencer Tracy movies. He was agitated and needed a drink and she needed to use the bathroom. They had already shot a million takes and everyone was ready to go home. She said that she used the intensity of a full bladder to deliver her lines twice as fast as before, which prompted Tracy's surprised reaction. Everyone liked it, and they could move on.
My situation was a little different, but by focusing on my bladder, my sneezing and waterfall nose subsided until they knew they could have my full attention. The second I could get off stage safely, I went to the nearest restroom. You know that scene in The Green Mile after Michael Clarke Duncan gives Tom Hanks a prostate exam and Hanks can finally let loose? The look on Tom's face is exactly how I felt.
Then I went back to coughing and sneezing.
Monday, December 14, 2015
Please Stand By
Due to technical difficulties, today's post no longer exists. I typed up something and the internet exploded temporarily. I don't feel like typing it all over again, but rest assured, it was brilliant and hilarious and would have made the world a better place for all of humanity. Oh, well.
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Adventures in Publishing
All of the e-book versions of all of my books are currently on sale at a discount price at Amazon. This does not mean I have been reduced to the discount bin. Yet. This is a holiday sale that I knew about beforehand. It will end sometime after the new year and then everything goes back to the regular high book prices. Personally, I think all e-books should always be 99 cents, but then no one would make any money, except whichever site you pay the 99 cents.
The paperbacks are always on sale. That has nothing to do with holiday specials. Every website that sells them always seems to be trying to match someone else's price. So the price at any one site can change at any time. I also think paperbacks are too expensive, but they have to be printed, unlike e-books, so 99 cents is definitely not an option.
The big holiday sale at Amazon is only at Amazon. Other sites do pretty much whatever they want when it comes to pricing. For example, a site called Booktopia sells the Bali Diary for $19.50, which is just insanely high. Tower Records sells Nudist Cruise for $11.95. I did not even know they were selling my books. I did not even know Tower still existed outside of Japan. I never saw any of my books at the Tower in Shibuya, but then again, I never checked. I only look at the CDs when I go there.
The bottom line is, if you want to buy my books, and that's something you should really want to do, now is the time. Christmas is always a great time to spend money you don't have. Why not spend it on my exciting illiterary adventures?
Or you can wait until the prices go back up again. It is your choice. As long as you buy them. That's the important thing.
The paperbacks are always on sale. That has nothing to do with holiday specials. Every website that sells them always seems to be trying to match someone else's price. So the price at any one site can change at any time. I also think paperbacks are too expensive, but they have to be printed, unlike e-books, so 99 cents is definitely not an option.
The big holiday sale at Amazon is only at Amazon. Other sites do pretty much whatever they want when it comes to pricing. For example, a site called Booktopia sells the Bali Diary for $19.50, which is just insanely high. Tower Records sells Nudist Cruise for $11.95. I did not even know they were selling my books. I did not even know Tower still existed outside of Japan. I never saw any of my books at the Tower in Shibuya, but then again, I never checked. I only look at the CDs when I go there.
The bottom line is, if you want to buy my books, and that's something you should really want to do, now is the time. Christmas is always a great time to spend money you don't have. Why not spend it on my exciting illiterary adventures?
Or you can wait until the prices go back up again. It is your choice. As long as you buy them. That's the important thing.
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
John Lennon
Everybody's talking and no one says a word
Everybody's making love and no one really cares
There's nazis in the bathroom just below the stairs
Always something happening and nothing going on
There's always something cooking and nothing in the pot
They're starving back in China so finish what you got
Nobody told me there'd be days like these
Nobody told me there'd be days like these
Nobody told me there'd be days like these
Strange days indeed
Strange days indeed
Everybody's running and no one makes a move
Everybody's a winner and nothing left to lose
There's a little yellow idol to the north of Kathmandu
Everybody's flying and no one leaves the ground
Everybody's crying and no one makes a sound
There's a place for us in the movies you just gotta lay around
Nobody told me there'd be days like these
Nobody told me there'd be days like these
Nobody told me there'd be days like these
Strange days indeed
Most peculiar, mama
Everybody's smoking and no one's getting high
Everybody's flying and never touch the sky
There's UFOs over New York and I ain't too surprised
Nobody told me there'd be days like these
Nobody told me there'd be days like these
Nobody told me there'd be days like these
Strange days indeed
Most peculiar, mama
Monday, December 7, 2015
Pearl Harbor
“Yesterday, December 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
“The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleagues delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack.
“It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time, the Japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.
“The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.
“Yesterday, the Japanese government also launched an attack against Malaya. Last night, Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong. Last night, Japanese forces attacked Guam. Last night, Japanese forces attacked the Philippine islands. Last night, the Japanese attacked Wake Island. And this morning, the Japanese attacked Midway Island. Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.
“As commander in chief of the army and navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense. But always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.
“I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.
“Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph, so help us God.
“I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.”
--President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 12/8/1941
National Pearl Harbor Memorial
“The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleagues delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack.
“It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time, the Japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.
“The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.
“Yesterday, the Japanese government also launched an attack against Malaya. Last night, Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong. Last night, Japanese forces attacked Guam. Last night, Japanese forces attacked the Philippine islands. Last night, the Japanese attacked Wake Island. And this morning, the Japanese attacked Midway Island. Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.
“As commander in chief of the army and navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense. But always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.
“I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.
“Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph, so help us God.
“I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.”
--President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 12/8/1941
Sunday, December 6, 2015
Thanksgiving 2015
I have spent more than a few Thanksgivings in Hong Kong. Two years ago, we went to a Michelin star Italian restaurant for Thanksgiving. I was not all that wild about the food. I have been to several hole in the wall Italian restaurants that were far superior. A lot of people will disagree with me, but I think Italian food is better when made by an old married couple in the kitchen. Celebrity chefs get all the attention, but their revolving door staff can never match what Nonna Leone can do.
Ironically, we went to a Japanese restaurant near Canton Road last year. That was another trendy hot spot with average food. Having been to Japan, I can confidently say that some anonymous guy making noodles by the side of the road can deliver a more honest meal than a celebrity chef from Italy who trained in London and makes Japanese food in China.
This Thanksgiving, Lily and I were in Japan. We could have easily had a better Japanese Thanksgiving dinner than what we had last year in China, but I wanted something more American. People always tell me it's crazy to seek out American food while traveling in other countries. You are in that country, so you should eat that food. I mostly agree, but I live in China. I don't eat American food every day. I rarely eat American food at all. Around here, authentic American food means McDonald's and Haagen-Dazs. There are plenty of “American” restaurants in China, but they are as authentic as American dim sum. We ate plenty of Japanese food throughout the trip, but for Thanksgiving, I wanted something more familiar.
Tokyo has plenty of American expats and restaurants that cater to our tastes. We heard about several restaurants that had special Thanksgiving menus. We picked a place just south of the Shibuya station called Good Honest Grub because we liked their menu and, this part is important, they had reservations available. Rather than one night of Thanksgiving, they did it all week.
Despite the terrible name, this was a nice restaurant. They are only open for breakfast and lunch, and close when the sun goes down, so their chefs are never going to be famous and they are unlikely to ever get any Michelin stars. But they use a great deal of fresh, local produce and are a rare non-smoking restaurant in Tokyo.
Something I was a little disappointed in was their pumpkin pie. I have been on a bit of a quest to find real pumpkin pie for several years now. Most places in Hong Kong use the cheapest butter they can find in their crust, if they even have a crust, and the pumpkin filling tastes nothing like pumpkin. I think most of them use sweet potatoes or squash instead. Good Honest Grub's pumpkin pie tasted like pumpkin, and the crust was much better than anything in China, but they seem to have forgotten the nutmeg. Pumpkin pie without nutmeg is like brownies without smashed up chocolate bars.
It was a good Thanksgiving meal overall, and Tokyo has a million places to get dessert. Since Thanksgiving is meaningless in Japan, nothing closed early. Ice cream and imagawayaki were available all night.
Ironically, we went to a Japanese restaurant near Canton Road last year. That was another trendy hot spot with average food. Having been to Japan, I can confidently say that some anonymous guy making noodles by the side of the road can deliver a more honest meal than a celebrity chef from Italy who trained in London and makes Japanese food in China.
This Thanksgiving, Lily and I were in Japan. We could have easily had a better Japanese Thanksgiving dinner than what we had last year in China, but I wanted something more American. People always tell me it's crazy to seek out American food while traveling in other countries. You are in that country, so you should eat that food. I mostly agree, but I live in China. I don't eat American food every day. I rarely eat American food at all. Around here, authentic American food means McDonald's and Haagen-Dazs. There are plenty of “American” restaurants in China, but they are as authentic as American dim sum. We ate plenty of Japanese food throughout the trip, but for Thanksgiving, I wanted something more familiar.
Tokyo has plenty of American expats and restaurants that cater to our tastes. We heard about several restaurants that had special Thanksgiving menus. We picked a place just south of the Shibuya station called Good Honest Grub because we liked their menu and, this part is important, they had reservations available. Rather than one night of Thanksgiving, they did it all week.
Despite the terrible name, this was a nice restaurant. They are only open for breakfast and lunch, and close when the sun goes down, so their chefs are never going to be famous and they are unlikely to ever get any Michelin stars. But they use a great deal of fresh, local produce and are a rare non-smoking restaurant in Tokyo.
Something I was a little disappointed in was their pumpkin pie. I have been on a bit of a quest to find real pumpkin pie for several years now. Most places in Hong Kong use the cheapest butter they can find in their crust, if they even have a crust, and the pumpkin filling tastes nothing like pumpkin. I think most of them use sweet potatoes or squash instead. Good Honest Grub's pumpkin pie tasted like pumpkin, and the crust was much better than anything in China, but they seem to have forgotten the nutmeg. Pumpkin pie without nutmeg is like brownies without smashed up chocolate bars.
It was a good Thanksgiving meal overall, and Tokyo has a million places to get dessert. Since Thanksgiving is meaningless in Japan, nothing closed early. Ice cream and imagawayaki were available all night.
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Sleeping in Tokyo
We stayed at the Shibuya Excel Hotel Tokyu, which is obviously in Shibuya. We stayed in Shibuya the last time we went to Tokyo, so we wanted to branch out a little more. We spent more time in Shinjuku this time, but the last thing we wanted to do was go all over the city. There is more than enough to experience for a week in Shibuya and Shinjuku.
The hotel is just outside the JR station. Since it sits on top of a shopping mall, you can walk from the station to the hotel without ever setting foot outdoors; a convenience on rainy days. This is a standard business hotel that looks and feels like what you expect from business hotels in Japan, but our room was larger than we expected. We did not book the cheapest room, because there were two of us, but we did not book the most expensive suite either.
They were supposed to give us two single or double beds, or whatever they want to call it. In East Asia, bed sizes never seem to match what we call them in the United States. I have slept on queen size beds that would be just right for a child. The hotel put us in a room with one king size bed. I don't think it was really king size, but it was big enough. Fortunately, Lily and I are good friends. It would have been awkward if this was a business trip.
Despite the lack of beds, which they were never able to fix, the service at the hotel was everything we expected from a business hotel in Japan. The housekeeping ninjas kept the room immaculate. We never saw them, but they were obviously there.
In parts of China, housekeeping will knock on your door day or night. Whenever they happen to be making the rounds, they will come to your room. No one really cares about do not disturb signs on doors. If they are cleaning your floor right now, they are coming to your room. I have dealt with a few people who were confused by the lock on the door and did not seem to understand why they could not get in. I have had housekeeping knock on my door at six o'clock in the morning. I'm usually awake, but I doubt most everyone else is. Even if the timing works out that no one tries to get into your room while you are sleeping, you will definitely see those housekeeping carts in the hallway. More often than not, they block the hall and you need to move them just to walk to the elevator.
In Tokyo, we never even saw the carts. They were obviously there when we were out, but we did not keep anything close to a regular schedule. We came and went at random and were prone to going back to the room in the middle of the day. It never mattered what time it was. No one was ever seen or heard. But the room was always cleaned.
Breakfast was included with our room, but we only ate it once. It was not bad for a hotel breakfast, but we were surrounded by food. Why eat something average when you have some of the best food in the world just outside your door? Sure, the hotel breakfast is free, or at least included in the price, but if you are prone to pinch pennies, Tokyo might not be for you.
The bathroom was not as modern as we expected, but it had the standard electronic toilet that gives every trip to Japan that little something extra. I was actually glad they had not renovated the bathroom recently. Whenever they do, they will probably put in one of those window walls that every hotel in China seems to have now. I like windows, but I want to use them to see what is outside the hotel, not to see what my roommate is doing in the bathroom. Not everyone who stays in a hotel is a couple, and not every couple wants to watch each other on the toilet. I know enough Chinese people who agree with me on that one. I'm hoping the Japanese feel the same way.
One of my favorite things about this hotel was the view. Cleanliness and comfort are far more important, but in Japan, your room is going to be clean. That's a given. This hotel is up to 25 floors above a shopping mall, which itself is 3 or 4 floors, so most rooms have good views of the neighborhood. Since our room faced north, we had a great view of the Shibuya crossing, Yoyogi Park and downtown Shinjuku. The last time we were in Tokyo, we stayed in an apartment. We had views of the neighboring buildings. This time, we had a postcard view from a large window. There are a million hotels in Tokyo, but I would not mind staying at this one next time.
The hotel is just outside the JR station. Since it sits on top of a shopping mall, you can walk from the station to the hotel without ever setting foot outdoors; a convenience on rainy days. This is a standard business hotel that looks and feels like what you expect from business hotels in Japan, but our room was larger than we expected. We did not book the cheapest room, because there were two of us, but we did not book the most expensive suite either.
They were supposed to give us two single or double beds, or whatever they want to call it. In East Asia, bed sizes never seem to match what we call them in the United States. I have slept on queen size beds that would be just right for a child. The hotel put us in a room with one king size bed. I don't think it was really king size, but it was big enough. Fortunately, Lily and I are good friends. It would have been awkward if this was a business trip.
Despite the lack of beds, which they were never able to fix, the service at the hotel was everything we expected from a business hotel in Japan. The housekeeping ninjas kept the room immaculate. We never saw them, but they were obviously there.
In parts of China, housekeeping will knock on your door day or night. Whenever they happen to be making the rounds, they will come to your room. No one really cares about do not disturb signs on doors. If they are cleaning your floor right now, they are coming to your room. I have dealt with a few people who were confused by the lock on the door and did not seem to understand why they could not get in. I have had housekeeping knock on my door at six o'clock in the morning. I'm usually awake, but I doubt most everyone else is. Even if the timing works out that no one tries to get into your room while you are sleeping, you will definitely see those housekeeping carts in the hallway. More often than not, they block the hall and you need to move them just to walk to the elevator.
In Tokyo, we never even saw the carts. They were obviously there when we were out, but we did not keep anything close to a regular schedule. We came and went at random and were prone to going back to the room in the middle of the day. It never mattered what time it was. No one was ever seen or heard. But the room was always cleaned.
Breakfast was included with our room, but we only ate it once. It was not bad for a hotel breakfast, but we were surrounded by food. Why eat something average when you have some of the best food in the world just outside your door? Sure, the hotel breakfast is free, or at least included in the price, but if you are prone to pinch pennies, Tokyo might not be for you.
The bathroom was not as modern as we expected, but it had the standard electronic toilet that gives every trip to Japan that little something extra. I was actually glad they had not renovated the bathroom recently. Whenever they do, they will probably put in one of those window walls that every hotel in China seems to have now. I like windows, but I want to use them to see what is outside the hotel, not to see what my roommate is doing in the bathroom. Not everyone who stays in a hotel is a couple, and not every couple wants to watch each other on the toilet. I know enough Chinese people who agree with me on that one. I'm hoping the Japanese feel the same way.
One of my favorite things about this hotel was the view. Cleanliness and comfort are far more important, but in Japan, your room is going to be clean. That's a given. This hotel is up to 25 floors above a shopping mall, which itself is 3 or 4 floors, so most rooms have good views of the neighborhood. Since our room faced north, we had a great view of the Shibuya crossing, Yoyogi Park and downtown Shinjuku. The last time we were in Tokyo, we stayed in an apartment. We had views of the neighboring buildings. This time, we had a postcard view from a large window. There are a million hotels in Tokyo, but I would not mind staying at this one next time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)